What is the validity of the invoice printed and sent by email?
Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2024 5:42 am
After spending several posts explaining what online billing programs are and what advantages they offer, it is very possible that you have decided to try them.
It may also be that, when you started using them, you have doubts about the validity of invoices sent by email or any other electronic means.
This is not an unfounded question, but quite the opposite. For a printed invoice to have legal value, it must bear the signature or stamp of the issuer. Since this is not possible via email, many self-employed people fear that the invoice they send via the Internet will end up as a dead letter, but this is not the case.
Is an invoice sent by email an electronic invoice?
Since January 1, 2013, when the new invoicing regulations came into force, yes. Until that date, a distinction was made between electronic invoices and invoices sent by email, since only the former, which had an electronic signature provided by the Tax Agency, was considered a legal document.
In 2013, the regulation changed to adapt to the new times in which most self-employed workers and SMEs use email as a means to send their invoices.
With the new law, the need for an invoice to be signed for it to be considered valid disappears, but the obligation to guarantee the origin and content remains, as with any printed invoice delivered by hand or sent by email.
The requirements that an invoice sent by email must meet to have the same validity as a printed (and signed) one are:
Consent of the recipient or client to receive the invoice by email in an express local marketing email list manner, either verbally or in writing.
Readability.
Prior agreement with the client on the format of the electronic invoice (PDF, HTML, jpg, etc.) and the electronic means of sending it.
Authenticity of origin. The shipping method must guarantee the authenticity of the data of the supplier of the goods and services and the issuer of the invoice (if they are not the same).
Integrity of the invoice content. This point means that it must be guaranteed that the invoice content has not been modified.
Obligations to retain a copy remain in place.
Ensuring the authenticity and integrity of the invoice is the key point when validating an invoice sent by email. However, this is something that should not worry you too much because, in reality, the controls that are passed (if requested by the Administration) are the same as those that all business activities undergo.
Sending your invoices by email or from an online invoicing program like Sage Invoicing will save you time and money. And you can do so with the peace of mind that the law supports their authenticity in the same way as if it were a paper invoice.
Billing software
It may also be that, when you started using them, you have doubts about the validity of invoices sent by email or any other electronic means.
This is not an unfounded question, but quite the opposite. For a printed invoice to have legal value, it must bear the signature or stamp of the issuer. Since this is not possible via email, many self-employed people fear that the invoice they send via the Internet will end up as a dead letter, but this is not the case.
Is an invoice sent by email an electronic invoice?
Since January 1, 2013, when the new invoicing regulations came into force, yes. Until that date, a distinction was made between electronic invoices and invoices sent by email, since only the former, which had an electronic signature provided by the Tax Agency, was considered a legal document.
In 2013, the regulation changed to adapt to the new times in which most self-employed workers and SMEs use email as a means to send their invoices.
With the new law, the need for an invoice to be signed for it to be considered valid disappears, but the obligation to guarantee the origin and content remains, as with any printed invoice delivered by hand or sent by email.
The requirements that an invoice sent by email must meet to have the same validity as a printed (and signed) one are:
Consent of the recipient or client to receive the invoice by email in an express local marketing email list manner, either verbally or in writing.
Readability.
Prior agreement with the client on the format of the electronic invoice (PDF, HTML, jpg, etc.) and the electronic means of sending it.
Authenticity of origin. The shipping method must guarantee the authenticity of the data of the supplier of the goods and services and the issuer of the invoice (if they are not the same).
Integrity of the invoice content. This point means that it must be guaranteed that the invoice content has not been modified.
Obligations to retain a copy remain in place.
Ensuring the authenticity and integrity of the invoice is the key point when validating an invoice sent by email. However, this is something that should not worry you too much because, in reality, the controls that are passed (if requested by the Administration) are the same as those that all business activities undergo.
Sending your invoices by email or from an online invoicing program like Sage Invoicing will save you time and money. And you can do so with the peace of mind that the law supports their authenticity in the same way as if it were a paper invoice.
Billing software